Even our little friend here has found the key to enjoying life and living the dream. With all our ambition and goals we very often forget that this is not a “dress rehearsal”, and it is all happening right this moment. There is nowhere to go, and nothing to get.
A great reminder for us to appreciate the present moment is to observe children or nature. We can learn far more about the essence of life and happiness by observing our child or pet.
We tend to take so much for granted, and neglect to appreciate what we have right now. When we get all caught up with what we “have” to do, we miss so much. For one, we often fail to give ourselves appropriate credit for all we have already accomplished. Instead, it becomes all about what’s next, or all we have left to do.
When we get caught up in this type of spiral, it is easy to slip into being overwhelmed and stressed out. But it does not need to be that way.
No Problem Living The Dream When We Were Kids
Can we remember back to when we were small children, and we got pleasure out of the simplest things. Now, many of us may have had emotional or outright abusive childhoods, but I am talking about those moments when we simply enjoyed what we were doing.
“All spiritual things must have in them a childlike quality. The belief in immortality rests not very much on the hope of going on. Few of us want to do that, but we would like very much to begin again.” — Heywood Braun —
We can learn a lot when we remember those times and transfer a little of that into our present existence.
After many years of working in the mental health field with children who were severely abused, I am very grateful and appreciative to have had the opportunity to assist them in letting go of some of the pain and rediscovering their True Essence. And it’s that True Essence which we must rediscover within ourselves in order to live fully satisfying lives.
Nowhere to Go, Nothing to Get
When it finally sinks in that all our rushing here and there, emailing, texting, sacrificing happiness for a future time, putting up with things we dislike, etc. is keeping us away from the one thing which we all desire, which is happiness. We finally take the hint.
Success in any area of our life is not anything we need to go find, but it is something we already possess. This is what creates our current foundation on which we design our life. We get to create that design any way we choose.
Without being happy now, we will not be happy then, regardless of what we attain or accumulate. Adding things from the outside will not heal the inside.
A New Perspective on Living the Dream
When we see things differently by changing a few of our hardcore assumptions and beliefs about people, ourselves, and the world in general, we then discover an entirely new landscape. Possibilities open up, that we did not “see” before, although they were most definitely there.
The bottom line is that these are all things we can control, once we “slow down” enough to see we are out of control quite a bit of the time, and we not living a life of purpose and joy.
It comes down to “how” we think, and not so much “what” we think. Breaking our habitual patterns of thought and consciously choosing “how” we will think, gives us a new perspective from which to design our life, and Live the Dream we have inside of ourselves.
Slow Down, Enjoy The Journey
Now goals and action are important, but the key is when to take action, and being conscious enough to enjoy the process. The fun of skiing downhill is not when it is completed, but the excitement and joy that takes place each moment of the experience.
Every decision and action we take is important. These should be taken when we are clear on what we truly desire so that we can more easily enjoy what we are doing regardless of what is going on around us.
Results come more easily when we let go of having to have things work out a certain way. It is at this point that a certain kind of “knowing” kicks in, and we then proceed with the “certainty” of success.
Enthusiasm, passion, and inspiration are what drives us to design our lives any way we choose. When we are truly conscious that we are actually designing our lives, we then realize that we are Living Our Dream right this very moment and that the journey is the prize that we were seeking all along.
To your Present Joy, Happiness, and Success,
Joseph
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Oh how I wish i can transport myself back to my childhood!! Looking back, it just makes me feel like life was so so easy back then- nothing to worry about, “living the dream” as you worded it. Having read through your post made me realize now that it all boils down to the way you think and if we can change that for ourselves, we can really appreciate all things we have achieved and desire to achieve-and that is the true meaning of “living the dream”. Thank you for sharing such a great, well-written post. It served as a reminder and a gave me great insight on how to attain joy & happiness. 🙂 Keep on doing awesome work!
Thanks so much Sasha. I am happy that you found value in this article. All the best.
We should celeabrate every accomplishements no matter how small. Of course we should dream big and set goals and as much as we want to live the dream right now lets enjoy the journey on the way to our dreams because its in the journey that we change and become better so then as we can see that the ture prize is not in only living the dream but also as the change that takes place on our journey.
Thanks Norman. I appreciate your insights. All the Best.